Floor joists

I missed posting yesterday, so here is the joist process.

Driveway full of wood

Floors and insulation

Today we are looking at pink cotton candy laid into the floor to keep us warm next year. Held up by wire, the insulation fills every crack.
Note added on April 1- This insulation was threatened by torrential rains in February that nearly got through the sub floor.

Tomorrow there will be floors!

Cement pour number 2

The guys start early to get prepped for the second and final big pour. There is snow on the mountains this morning and near freezing temperatures at night.

These supports will help with earthquake protection and support our old foundation where the cement is deteriorating leaving just rock and rubble. Apparently, cement takes about 60 years to reach it's hardest and then begins to crumble. The old cement has been there for 120 years, so it is the rock facing that is our only support.

The 15 pillars under our existing house will be tied into the house and old foundation giving us lateral and vertical support.

What a thrill, rising out of the mud

The second cement pour includes 15 support pillars for the "existing house" and 8 for the "new structure".  All goes smoothly and the days ahead will bring big progress.

Cripple wall structure. Our floors will be about this height.

Sunshine and wood framing

In the news, "Women's March on Washington" following Trump Inauguration.

Drying out

Wood framing starts.

Four Days of Rain

Our "ponds" now look like "pools" as the cement forms start to fill. Deep pools have formed in the "pillar holes". The rain falls steady for 4 days. We are happy to see the end of the drought, but wonder how it will all dry out in time for the next steps before the next storms.

Luckily,  there is sunshine and warm temperatures on the horizon.

Many inches of rain fill up the deep pillar holes.

Rain pours down against our "plastic" wall, but no leaks so far.

Still raining

Footing Day

What a great day for the Victorian Restoration project. 15 Cubic Feet (2 truck loads) of cement was flawlessly poured into the entire foundation frame. Starting at dawn, on our last clear day this week, the trucks arrived and the 7-man crew got to work. I have never seen such a coordinated, calm process. A huge amount of cement now sits contained by the wood frames with re-bar peeking through.  Very nice job. We woke the grand kids early to come see the process. It is a rare event in our neighborhood. We all stood by watching it happen while eating pancakes and eggs. It is both thrilling and frightening, knowing all of the potential challenges of this sort of pour. This step is literally the foundation for the whole project.

I am still looking at clear sky and it is 3:30 pm. We expect rain by 7 pm, but the cement will be hard enough to withstand the rain by then.

16 more support footings will be poured next week under the existing house along with 8 more spread throughout the new foundation.  Our future tile floors, huge wash dryer set up and cast iron shower make these old houses impossible to stabilize without multiple pillars throughout.

I am anxious to feel the support under my feet.

Bay window support dwarfs the steps.

We have dreams of enjoying the back porch.

It is feeling pretty solid.

If fits right up against the deck.

From this angle it sure looks long.

Up close the angles and steel rods look impressive.

The kids join the fun.

6:30 am and the roar of the mixer gets us out of bed.

Pre-Pour

We have had three sunny days. The wood and ground are dry, leaves removed and inspection complete.

The cement trucks should be arriving by about 7 am and we should be underway with the footings by 7:30 am. Seems like years since we originally spoke of pouring the footings.

Campaign is in the fridge, viewing chairs are at the ready and the neighbors have been alerted. Rain is scheduled for tomorrow night. We just hope it doesn't come early.

Finishing touches are being added to secure the frames.

Re-bar and long bolts stick out of the framing.

This angle really shows the length and strength of the project.

Drying out

We are having a beautiful day, with snow on the mountains. Weather still calls for dry, sunny days, so the plastic came off and now we just hope we don't get surprised.

View from the orange tree. The large sequence of footings will take two cement trucks full.

View from the swing set. Back porch foundation reaches all the way to the deck.

View from the deck. Leaves, mud and dirt will have to be removed from the footing frames by hand. It is too muddy to work today. The prep will be done on Monday.

Beginning again

My last post was December 4th, 2016.  Everything came to a halt on December 5th due to yet another snafu in the architecture/engineering of the project. So once again, the area got covered with plastic, cleaned up and left for another month.

So here we are at January 14th, 2017 and hoping to begin again. The foundation forms have been constructed and the site has been renamed the "pools", since we have had very unusual levels of rain fall. Apparently, we have had enough rainfall to end the drought. Our "building karma" is not the best. We are now looking at 4 days without rain and hoping the forms will dry out, the leaves and debris will be removed, inspector will approve and the cement trucks will arrive and we will be back in business.

Due to our numerous prior false starts, we are remaining cautiously optimistic. We continue to be dry and warm in our "half-house" and have begun enjoying the Sunday "Community Dinners" and regular visits to friends and family with our laundry and dishpan full of dirty dishes. Community takes on a whole new meaning when you begin to depend on everyone.

Four "ponds" developed as the rain poured down and stressed the protective layer of plastic.

We are living just inches away from the wind and rain, but the plastic has kept our living room dry all month.

The construction site looks big but we are only adding 300 square feet. Much of the prior foundation had to be removed since it was rubble and cement and was deteriorating rapidly.

The yard is a mess, this is the future back porch where we hope to spend many happy summer evenings.